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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853369">Outside the Window</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtisticVicu/pseuds/ArtisticVicu'>ArtisticVicu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Assorted Prompt Writings [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen, M/M, Magic, Original Character(s), Seers, Supernatural Elements, Unofficial Sequel, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:27:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853369</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtisticVicu/pseuds/ArtisticVicu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What a potential sequel to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23561674/chapters/56524948">31 Days of Horror! Writing Marathon</a> could entail.</p>
<p>Peter's eldest sees a stranger at the end of the short walk but when he looks, he sees a creature that is very familiar to him. He sends his eldest to rescue his husband from the twins and send said husband his way. But what had happened before the creature's arrival after Peter had taken the hand of a Walker?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter/Ezekiel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Assorted Prompt Writings [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684657</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Outside the Window</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, dad.” He looked over at his eldest finding their gaze out the dining room window. “Who’s that standing at the end of the walk?”<br/><br/>His gaze turned to the window over the sink as he automatically reached up and turned the water off.<br/><br/>Outside the window, the morning was still going strong. What counted as the front yard was illuminated by the streaks of sunlight that made it through the large trees. The street beyond the small yard’s fence was still bustling with morning traffic - both vehicle and foot traffic - but not an eye strayed to stare at the figure standing at the end of the walk at the closed gate.<br/><br/>He turned, drying off his hands. “Go free your Pa of the twins and send him to me. I’ll go greet our guest.”<br/><br/>He watched them leave, a tight expression still on their face of apprehension and confusion. He tucked the towel back into place hoping the hints of pain he had seen as well were from a mild headache rather than the pain he had gone through when he had first met one.<br/><br/>He was pulling on his other shoe when his husband joined him.<br/><br/>“Polaris said you were going to go see about a stranger at our gate?”<br/><br/>“Not sure if you’ll be able to see them. Surprise Laris was, honestly.” He paused, gaze on the wall opposite him. “Surprised I hadn’t felt them.”<br/><br/>“S-Ona?”<br/><br/>He smiled up at his husband. “Always so quick.”<br/><br/>The offered hand was warm beneath his and he let his husband pull him to his feet. “Polaris has met M-Ona before.”<br/><br/>The door handle, in contrast, was cold to the touch. “I had forgotten about that.”<br/><br/>The air was still crisp and cool despite the hour and the handle added to the note that the night had been cold. The stranger at the gate was watching the trees dance in the light breeze drifting through though their attention was on him when the door opened fully. In a form not even remotely human, he was impressed that not a single eye flickered towards his home. Humans eyes were drawn to what they could not see if conscious enough and he knew there were at least three that weren’t children that would be able to see the creature standing at his gate.<br/><br/>“Time has passed graciously and kind, Star Ona,” he offered formally as he stepped off the landing that counted as their porch. “What draws one as you to me once more?”<br/><br/>The large black eyes of the S-Ona narrowed in the equivalent of a human smile. “Can not an old friend say hi, <em>Ilnruk</em>?”<br/><br/>He tapped the side of his nose with a smile. “No old friend of mine stands before me, Star Ona. Velgrath has long since left this Seer be for many kind years. But you know that as I know that. What brings you here, for I know it is not this Seer you are here to see.”<br/><br/>The S-Ona’s eyes narrowed even more till they were nothing more than thick dark lines on their pale head. “There yet has been word of such tongues from you, <em>Ilnruk</em>.” The entire creature’s head moved with their gaze. “Will not the child of one be just as quick?”<br/><br/>He looked beyond his husband to the door, spying his eldest standing in the doorway with the twins. The scowl on the eldest’s face was more annoyance than pain and his smile turned into a grin. The twins darted across the short stretch of sidewalk and plowed into his husband’s legs, tiny hands clinging to fabric as both started talking at once. “Laris,” he spoke out as his husband dealt with their youngests in hushed tones. “Come meet the Star Ona currently giving you a splitting headache.”<br/><br/>“I wouldn’t call it so much splitting as annoying,” Polaris offered, approaching with a wariness he appreciated. “You’re the one that’s been talking to me, then?”<br/><br/>“As it would seem,” the S-Ona spoke. He got the distinct impression the mouthless creature was grinning.<br/><br/>“Then drop the tongues, Arak,” Polaris bit out, “and properly introduce yourself.”<br/><br/>The S-Ona laughed. and those eyes, though wide, conveyed the grin he could feel. “You’ve certainly raised them right, <em>Ilnruk</em>. And you’ve had a good teacher, too. It’s not often we get Seers that can speak so eloquently that I couldn’t resist.” The S-Ona bowed deeply. “I am Elnarak. Velgrath was a dear companion of mine before the situations with you drew them away. I am glad their impression on you and yours has lasted.”<br/><br/>Those dark eyes had briefly flickered up to his husband before settling specifically on the twins. They were still talking but their voices were muffled by magic of their own draw. He could see on his husband’s face that it was only one sided, though, and that they were hearing everything quite well. “Velgrath was extremely potent,” he offered, turning his attention back to Elnarak. “I would be surprised if their touch didn’t touch the children of my children in some way, Seers or otherwise.”<br/><br/>He got the impression that Elnarak was grinning again. “And now it’s my turn,” those dark eyes turned to Polaris, “with them.” Those black eyes were on him again. “But this time the danger ahead is nothing like what you had to be prepared for, <em>Seer</em>.”<br/><br/>Outside the window lightning lit up the night sky. The pouring rain was streaking the window and blurring the city lights he had missed seeing. The glass itself was cool against his forehead as the rumble of thunder made it tremble. A deep breath fogged up the glass beneath his line of sight.<br/><br/>A presence he had missed far more pressed in at his back and he pulled his head away from the glass, straightening his posture as two very familiar arms wrapped around his chest. “Are you going to keep the windows up all night?” a voice asked nonchalant in his ear. “I’m sure they can support themselves.”<br/><br/>A smile pulled at his lips as his gaze focused on where a reflection should be. The lighting was off, obscuring both of their faces. “I apologize, Ezekiel. I had not been paying the time any mind.”<br/><br/>There was a kiss to his neck. “You’ve been lost in thought for hours, love. It’s now approaching three in the morning and we still have a 9am meeting.”<br/><br/>He leaned his head back, weight shifting into the sure body behind him. “I had forgotten about that.”<br/><br/>Another roll of thunder. He wasn’t sure if he was sad or not about missing the lightning that had preceded it.<br/><br/>“What has your attention so tight, love?” that voice softly coaxed.<br/><br/>He sighed. “The Walkers were preparing me for something but since I’ve returned to this….” he made a face, “I don’t know, world? I haven’t been able to figure out what. It feels like it should be obvious but even my Sight isn’t helping me. I can’t See anything. Haven’t since I came back.” The arms tightened around him. He wondered if they were in response to the tension in his own body. “And it scares me.”<br/><br/>“Come to bed, then,” Ezekiel urged. “Please, love. You need sleep. We both do before tomorrow’s meeting. Afterwards I am whisking you away to some beach and we’ll sit and talk about the marriage you promised me three years ago.”<br/><br/>He chuckled. “I did promise you that, didn’t I.” He turned around in that embrace, snaking his arms around someone he never wanted to let go of again. “To bed with us, then. We have a busy day tomorrow.”<br/><br/>Outside the window, the rain had turned into a drizzle but the bright morning sun was already above the layer of clouds leaving the view outside gray and wet. It was certainly better than the chaos of the meeting before him. With a solid foot on the table, he rocked on the back two legs of his chair, glaring at the idiots before him. The few that were actually trying to accomplish something were saved from his wrathful gaze and the touch of magic he couldn’t quite wrangle in.<br/><br/>Ezekiel sat back down with a quiet snarl, glaring at the atrocity of a man at the other end who took Ezekiel’s move as a surrender. Even the uncontrolled touch of his magic did nothing to get the atrocity to fall silent when his glare landed on the man.<br/><br/>“Lord Talmas, unless you have something of use to say, shut the fuck up.”<br/><br/>His voice was sharp, cutting through the atrocity’s words with ease. The magic that rolled with his words got everyone’s attention. He stood slower than he would normally, splayed his hands on the table and leaned into them slower than normal. He let the magic around him thicken and weigh heavy on all of them. His glare remained on Lord Talmas at the other end of the table. “We are here for a reason and I am sick and tired of listening to your pompous ass speak as if you’re important.” The man bristled at that and he stood his full - albeit a bit short - height. “Unless you have something of value to contribute to the actual reason this meeting is being held, sit down, shut up, and listen. The only reason you are here is because of your status, Lord Talmas, and I expect you to act your position and not the entitled little brat you’re behaving like.”<br/><br/>Outrage erupted around him. The thickened magic buried all of them as he sneered at those that had jumped to defend the other man. “You are welcome to leave,” he informed each of them and many of those still seated. “I am not forcing you to stay. However, if you walk out that door, I will make sure that whatever aid we send you takes its sweet ass time getting to each of you specifically. Your people will be fine but you, personally, may perish if you don’t start acting like the leaders you are expected to be. I promise you that.”<br/><br/>Everyone settled as the magic lifted and he fought the urge to sigh. He turned a softer gaze to Madam Van. “We will be proceeding under the impression that the intel you have received is accurate. I would much rather be prepared than caught not. We’ll have to be careful, though. If we do too much, they may move faster than we can keep up with.”<br/><br/>He wasn’t sure why Sight warned him, why Sight showed him moments before it happened, but he went from calmed fury to terrified for Ezekiel’s life at the flip of a switch. Without thinking, he spun from the table, grabbed his fiance’s arm and pulled as magic surged at his command. The explosion slammed into what barrier he could swiftly construct and shattered it. He and Ezekiel were thrown to the floor and his head erupted in pain.<br/><br/>It was like he had become Sight. Everything - past, present, and possible futures - were filling his mind and it was all he could do to keep himself separate from the flashing instances. He witnessed things he knew could happen and witnessed things he prayed never did. There was no point of reference as he watched people he didn’t even know - couldn’t even recognize as a type of being - in a world so unfamiliar deal with horrible or fantastic or breathtaking or heartbreaking things so rapidly over what felt like an eternity - or was it only a few seconds - that he started to forget he was even a person to begin with.<br/><br/>The pain flared and he cried out but none that he saw heard him, his voice lost in the in betweens, lost to the passage of time, and he felt so isolated. The chaos around him seemed to only get more frantic and he wanted to close his eyes, to block it out, but he had no eyes to close.<br/><br/><em>“Come on. Just a bit more, Ilnruk.”</em><br/><br/>He was standing. Multiple scenes were happening around him barely an arm’s distance away from him, but he was standing and he had a body again.<br/><br/><em>“Good. Good. This is good.”</em><br/><br/>The voice echoed about him but it was hard to tell if it was in his head or in the space he was occupying. He looked around despite only seeing different scenes everywhere he looked. “What’s good?!” he shouted back. “Who are you?! What’s going on?!”<br/><br/><em>“Introductions when you are more stable. Now, Ilnruk, focus. Work with the Sight. It does not have to control you.”</em><br/><br/>“How?” He didn’t care the word carried his desperation. “I don’t even know what’s going on!”<br/><br/>There was a heavy pause as several thousand, very violent, very horrible things showed around him in rapid succession. <em>“Despite our lack of time, I’ll start you off from the beginning. Breathe deep and slow. Breathe, Ilnruk, and be still.”</em><br/><br/>Outside the window, the sky held a spattering of clouds. The sky itself was dark, like the sun was at the edge of the horizon. He knew it was early morning. He knew it was early morning 17 days after he had yanked Ezekiel from harm. He knew what had filled those 17 days for the world but, more importantly, he knew what had transpired in his home and around it. A debilitating headache made it hard for him to even want to move but he moved anyways.<br/><br/>Ezekiel’s gaze was where he looked for it, meeting that bewildered gaze steadily. He didn’t have to look to see the scarring around the man’s throat, the raw look to his hands, the clothing that was somebody else’s and dirtied with dust, grime, and blood that was and wasn’t his own. Most of it wasn’t his own. He didn’t have to ask to know what his fiance had lived through, what had happened in his absence, and he wasn’t sure if he cared enough to hate that fact at the moment.<br/><br/>He would later.<br/><br/>Ah, yeah, he hated it.<br/><br/>“Peter,” fell off his fiance’s tongue rough and choked. The man was at his side but he was already getting out of bed, hands up and pulling the other man in for a tight embrace he knew the other needed.<br/><br/>With the other man’s face buried into his neck and shoulder, he looked at the only other figure in the room. “Velgrath. Star Ona are not supposed to be getting involved. You know this.”<br/><br/>The S-Ona smiled the only way they do. <em>“And yet I am here anyways.”</em> Those black eyes became their normal shape, focused a stare on him that was neutral, expectant.<em> "Welcome back, Ilnruk.“</em><br/><br/>"I’m glad to be back.” He meant it. “But now we have work to do.”<br/><br/>“Velgrath has told me some of what had been happening to you,” Ezekiel offered as he pulled away. “What should I expect?”<br/><br/>“For this to be chaotic and seemingly hopeless before it works,” he offered truthfully. “If we act now and act quickly, we can get the desired outcome with as little death as possible.” He started for the door. “We have to speak with Brekon first.”<br/><br/>A hand wrapped around his wrist and he looked back at Ezekiel. “Peter, Warren-”<br/><br/>“I know.” There wasn’t much time and they were wasting it. He rolled his arm over in the hold and gave Ezekiel’s arm a squeeze. “Do your best not to fight me in what I’m about to do. It will work.” He locked eyes with Velgrath. The S-Ona was waiting already knowing what was about to happen. “The execution of it all will probably be a bit messy.”<br/><br/>Ezekiel’s expression didn’t lose the worry.<br/><br/>Outside the window, the summer heat was coming off the patio in waves distorting the view beyond. Soft chatter behind him reminded him of where he was and what he was doing. He turned only to be startled to find Ezekiel barely a step away. The man’s hands were wrapped around his arms as he swayed a bit too far off balance from the mild fright. He offered an embarrassed grin. “Sorry. You startled me,” he offered lamely.<br/><br/>Ezekiel’s expression was surprisingly controlled as the other man offered him a soft smile. “I noticed. I came over to see if you wanted anything to eat. You barely touched any of your breakfast.”<br/><br/>He shook his head, hands splaying themselves on Ezekiel’s well dressed chest. “I’m ok for now. Thank you, though.” His gaze went to those in the room.<br/><br/>Warren and Brekon were on the couch asleep both heavily covered by blankets that hid the serious injuries they had both sustained. Hidden even by bandages were the pale starburst markings of Velgrath’s gift to them both at the cost of the S-Ona’s existence. Pandora was sitting with Madam Van, the young boy he had briefly met an hour ago asleep on her lap. He knew Aiden was somewhere close in the freshly repaired mansion toting around the two little girls and smallest boy that made up the rest of his and Pandora’s little family. Probably the kitchen if Ezekiel’s mention of wanting anything to eat was anything to go by. The three M-Ona were still huddled around his journals for some reason, Pandora and Aiden’s eldest boy smack dab in the middle of the trio wide eyed.<br/><br/>He didn’t recognize the seven other moving bodies in the room but that was probably fine.<br/><br/>He looked back at Ezekiel and briefly wondered how long he had been lost in thought. Ezekiel’s touch was still on his arms, gentle and soothing and oh so patient. He smiled up at him. “Sorry. Being without Sight and magic seems to have robbed me of more than I thought.”<br/><br/>Ezekiel pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I doubt you were robbed of anything but those, love. Come. The others will be joining us soon.”<br/><br/>Outside the window the snow was drifting through the still night air. He felt Ezekiel shift on the bed behind him but the small body resting against his chest kept him awake at the dead of night. He had to concentrate to get magic to warm the blankets a bit more and he felt both bodies relax again. He returned his attention to the snow and waited.<br/><br/>Nothing came. No vision of a moment, no impression of events to come, no understanding that he shouldn’t know. Nothing. No voice, no presence, no swell of magic.<br/><br/>Instead he found the exhaustion that comes with raising a child barely in school and twin babes. He found the quiet hum of magic far softer than the magic he had grown accustom to. He found a peace he had never known had existed till he had everything that had made him who he was ripped away and then shoved back into his arms.<br/><br/>All but Sight.<br/><br/>He shifted in the bed, settling the little body against Ezekiel’s chest before curling around the small child and into Ezekiel’s chest himself.<br/><br/>But that was to be expected. Sight had left all that had possessed it. It would be a long time before it returned to any again like that.<br/><br/>The little body between him and Ezekiel burrowed deeper into the warmth in its sleep.<br/><br/>Well, that depended on perspective. To the Ona, it would be a brief pause in Earth’s existence before Sight would be needed again.</p>
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